Sybil rolled out some foot stompers tonight on the Stormy Show with greats like Nelson Alexander, Blu Lu Barker, Charles Brown and Lena Horne. She also re-introduced us to Cracked Ice and featured Miss Bettye LaVette who was doing her crime right here on the Stormy Show.

So pull up, sit back and let Miss Sybil drive for an hour and show you the scenery on the stormy road.

We've featured just a few of the videos we found for this week's show, but if you really want to check out the digs on these artist you need to see the Stormy Youtube Channel for sweet nuggets of classic Jazz, Blues and Soul.

The first Jazz Vibraphone player Lionel Hampton, ("Hamp") worked with a host of musicians too numerous to mention. He played early on with Benny Goodman's Orchestra , making it one of the first interracial bands, and eventually started his own "Lionel Hampton Orchestra." In 1985 the University of Idaho Jazz Festival changed to become the Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival,  making it the first and only Jazz fest named for an African American Jazz artist, and it is still growing today.

If you don't yet know this enduring legend, here's a little taste of his lengthy Jazz career; a career which turned him into one of the foundations of Jazz music.

The Stormy Monday Show was in full swing on Saturday night when I had an opportunity to interview the man that Eric Clapton said was" the best blues player ever."

"Braille Blues Daddy", Bryan Lee has been blind since he was eight years old, but that never stopped him. Playing blues guitar since his teens, his extraordinary talent and a bit of Lady Luck’s blessings helped him land a gig at the Old Absinthe House on Bourbon Street that lasted 15 years; quite a feat for a young Wisconsin man in New Orleans.

I had the pleasure of seeing him at the Beach Shack in Cocoa Beach, Florida a few weeks ago, along with his force, The Blues Power Band. His "Stax" infused blues, mixed in with some New Orleans spice and a twist of Chicago made the show a powerhouse performance not to miss.

He is touring Florida now and shares a glimpse of his life with us on The Stormy Monday Show.





Don't forget to visit my Stormy Youtube Channel for videos of all the great Jazz, Blues and Soul artists featured on the show.









The Stormy Monday Show is produced in conjunction with The Practical Cafe.

A pretty lady. A classy lady. A strong lady. A down to earth person. A superb entertainer.


This is how we should remember Lena Horne.


She came to prominence in a difficult time for black people , but also at a wonderful time for Jazz music. She had beautiful friendships with such luminaries as Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn.


She was hip. She stood her ground against Hollywood; challenging the way black people were portrayed. And when she had an opportunity to "pass" for Latino, she turned it down flat.


She enjoyed 60 years of entertaining us in films, in clubs, on television. (I just watched a special two days ago, and you've heard her many times on my show.)


May you rest in peace for a job well done Lady. We are forever blessed to have witnessed you.














  

Buddy Guy is a master bluesman.

Imagine being an inspiration to legends such as Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Page, Eric Clapton and I'm sure countless others. He has been called the bridge between the blues and rock and roll, so much so that Jimi Hendrix said that Heaven was lying at Buddy Guy's feet listening to him play guitar.

But Buddy Guy is also a flamboyant entertainer. I remember a quote by Jeff Beck saying that he once saw Guy throw the guitar up in the air and catch it in the same chord, and he was playing the guitar behind his back and picking it with his teeth almost 10 years before Hendrix adopted the moves. When Hendrix got really big Buddy Guy was accused of imitating him, but in reality Hendrix used to cancel his own engagements to go see Buddy Guy!

Guy was born in Leftsworth, Louisiana and is still performing at the age of 73 (See the video below from 2009). But what I love about Guy is his showmanship, his sincere smile and his interaction with the audience. I haven't ever seen a blues singer smile so much. He loves it when you sing along with him, and will often invite you on stage to help out with a tune. He can, and does, hold one note on the guitar for, oh… I counted at least 20 seconds, and that one note is a knockout punch just waiting for your ears to arrive.

Chicago Blues, that's Buddy Guy. He learned to play guitar on a two string diddley bow that he made from scratch. For 10 years one of his labels, Chess, refused to record him because they didn't understand his style and basically used Guy as a session man for recordings on albums for Koko Taylor, Muddy Waters, and Howlin Wolf. His career slumped in the late 1960's while the people he inspired rose to success, but it was revived when Clapton asked him to be in the 24 Nights blues lineup at London's Royal Albert Hall, in the late 80's. Now, Guy is a 5 time Grammy Award winner and has received 23 W.C Handy Awards ( more than any other artist) . He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, and his acceptance speech was simple, sweet and short “If you don't think you have the blues, just keep living". That’s blues, (and life) Buddy Guy style, and the reason why he is still such an inspiration in the world of music.

I want to introduce you to a name you may not have heard before, or at least, not heard in a while. Bonnie Bramlett has a powerhouse voice and a knock out performance that has propelled her career since the age of 14. But I'm going let her music speak for itself, and let her voice hypnotize those languid ears. Click on her name to learn more about this great lady of music, and of course, let me know what you think.

We've changed up the format of The Stormy Monday Show just a bit. Rather than featuring Jazz, Blues and Soul separately, at the request of our growing international audience, we are now mixing jams from each genre into every show. That means, you get all the best of Jazz, Blues and Soul with every single episode as well as featured pieces on local talent from around the world. 

We finally recovered our March 20th show from the deep bowels of radio "technicalities." It was a Sweet Soul Music weekend  and Sybil rolled out the great artists of Soul in a smooth one hour jam fest; featuring James Brown, Sam and Dave Major Lance, Lee Dorsey, Wilson Pickett and many more. It's time to pull up a chair, turn off the cell phone and listen in on the old, old school of Soul jams with Sybil.....








We've put a few of the featured videos below but you can find all the videos of the artists featured on The Stormy Monday Show by visiting Sybil's Stormy Monday Youtube Channel









Podcast produce in conjunction with The Practical Cafe  which handles all of Sybil's Practical Social Media Solutions.